Multicultural Literature

Is multicultural literature important? Heck yes! I cannot think of anything quite so influential in a person's life as literature. And I strongly believe that if we do not offer ALL of our students literature they can relate to, then we are doing our students a great disservice. As a young, white female, it is easy to find literature I can relate to. It's everywhere. But if I were a young, Hispanic female, would I be able to find something quite so easily? How about finding a book I can directly relate to as a young, Jewish male? And as a young, white female, how can I better understand the culture of another?

Throughout SEDU 333, I have been forced to think outside of my comfort zone.  I have been pushed to read books I normally would never have considered reading. I realized, though, that all these years, I have been sheltering myself. Denying myself a real education: lessons on humanity, empathy, culture, worldliness. How can we, as educators, bring more multicultural literature into our classrooms?

The second edition of Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom, edited by Monseau and Salvner, is a great place to start for learning how to choose multicultural literature for our young adult students. Chapter 9 of this textbook is dedicated to just such a task, and I found it extremely helpful despite the titles listed being somewhat outdated. I will summarize the most important aspects we should look for when choosing multicultural literature:

• Watch out for stereotypes.
• Do not pick books that have "token" representations of characters.
• Make sure everything is accurate. Historical facts, representations of people/culture/life/interactions, etc.
• Check out the dialogue. Make sure it is accurate and is not stereotypical.
• Make sure the characters' successes are not measured against the majority's standard of success, but find positive role models for ALL students.
• Pay attention to how women and the elderly are portrayed and treated in the work.
• Do not choose something that contains embarrassing or bring shame to any student.
• Make sure the author is qualified to write about a specific topic (either through research or personal experience).
• Pay close attention to what students WANT to read. Make it available.
• Choose pieces that have positive interactions between cultures and people.
• Diversify! Choose literature that involves immigration stories, pieces written by individuals growing up in a different country, and pieces that are written from the minority perspective.

We can't put ourselves in a box. We are unique. We all come from some place different, have different experiences, different beliefs, different values. As teachers, and role models, it is important to show our students that diversity is wonderful because it allows us to see things from new perspectives, to learn about what makes America a "melting pot", and to show all students that there is someone out there with similar experiences, thoughts, and beliefs.

Image take from: https://teachingsexed.com/2013/11/25/multicultural-education-in-a-diverse-nutshell/

Blog #4 - Rethinking what is normal? Rethinking everything!

I am one for food for thought. I am one for debate. I am one for questions. I am one for discussions. And no other class has made me do these things more than this class. I love reading between the lines and digging into the deeper meaning of things. These YAL books has allowed me to do just that.

As we grow up, we are constantly developing and changing our beliefs, ideals, connections and who we are as people. My beliefs are planted strongly within me, never wavering or bending. However, there is a new flower on my stem of beliefs, and it has come from reading these books. The one that moved me the most was By The Time You Read This I'll Be Dead. I do not believe in suicide, not one it. I don't believe that it is the right thing to do, even if it is your own body. However, this book help me to see the insight of someone who might be considering it. It shows what is in their mind, their heart, their feelings and their beliefs. We can never truly understand anyone but ourselves because we are no one but ourselves. However, these books make it a little easier to understand other people and situations.

There were many times that my faith was tested and pulled a little bit. Some Assembly Required was one of those texts. I believe that if God made you a girl, you were a girl. And if he made you a boy, then you were a boy. That is that. So, naturally, I would not normally pick this book out for myself. I was really uncomfortable reading it at first because of my beliefs. However, a book can do wonders. It did not change my beliefs on the subject, but it did in fact help me to better understand and see a little clearer.

Though these YAL books can be disputed on whether or not they are appropriate for our students, there is one thing that is for certain. These books introduce us to new worlds, new ideas, and new was of life that we might of not ever known of not for the book. These books can change the way we view the world when we read with an open mind. This is the effect that I want my choice of books to have on my students. I don't want my students to walk away with just a new grammar vocabulary list or some new sentence structures. I don't want my students to leave my class with just a general paper with no more thought into it than a text message. I want my students to be challenged. I want them to feel encouraged, changed, inspired, and open. I wanted my students to discover themselves on their own and in their own time. I want my students to feel like I did reading these books. Understanding.

Blog #3 - Is the church and state really separate?

There is a saying that is popular in the school systems and nearby church congregations. Separation of Church and State. This blog is not to criticize any one religion or lack thereof, only to bring awareness of the topic of religion in school, and to exercise my thoughts and wonderings about the topic.
As we are reading these Young Adult Literature books, one thing keeps occurring to me. I was raised in a Christian household. We attending church every Sunday morning and night, on Wednesday nights, and whenever there was a church event; we were there. My parents raised me strongly in the Christian beliefs. As a child I was surrounded by the beliefs that they wanted us to learn, and was sheltered from the worldly things they did not want us to learn. As I grew up, I went through the stage of decided for myself what it was that I believed, or didn't believe. Some of my original black and white decisions became a blurry grey as they became more and more complex the more I found out who I was and what I believed.
I was always raised to love the sinner and hate the sin. That is what my parents taught me, and that is what the Bible said. So that is the way that I lived and am still living. I believe that being transgender is wrong because God said it was wrong. But, that doesn't mean that I will love that student less than the others. That does not mean that I will not treat them with respect and love and encouragement. I believe that suicide is wrong in every corner of what is wrong or right. But that doesn't mean that I will ridicule a student considering it, it doesn't mean that I will treat them any different. I believe that God created everyone in his image, everyone is special and God loves every single one of us. That means that he loves the deformed, the crazy, the insane, the mentally messed up, and every single different race or color of skin. So, why shouldn't we?
So, in reading these books, my internal belief system kicks in. I disagree with a lot of what these books are talking about. But, I understand that these kinds of situations happen in our world. So, here is my question. As teachers, how do we approach controversial topics or books without completely shutting off someone's internal moral compass? The one thing that I was never afraid of as a student was to speak my mind and speak out for my beliefs. Yes, sometimes I was attacked or made fun of. That was not the point. I stood up for what I believed. I loved to debate and argue my point. However, not every student is like me. How do we as teachers, have debates and discussions with our students and make these religious students feel safe enough to speak their mind? Everyone is entitled to their opinions, both religious and non. Furthermore, I believe that the majority of the parents that would have an issue with these books would be the religious parents. So, as teachers, how do we address the controversial topics and make them known to our parents and make them feel comfortable with the books?
These are all questions that each teacher must address in his or her own way. You don't even have to have an answer. This was food for thought, to keep in mind that not everyone has to agree on the same thing. It is possible for people to disagree and not hate each other, to disagree and have deep and conventional conversations with one another. It is important to remember that each student is special in their own way though each one is different in their own way. Even the Bible has been banned from schools just like some of our YAL books. It is important to keep this in mind as we travel the unknown waters of these topics and the books that go along with them.

Reading is not optional....

This is a sign that I have posted in my classroom.  The beginning of the year kids laugh and scoff at this sign, but by the end of the year, my hope is that kids understand the impact of being illiterate.  I thought the survey we had to do for the NYT was kind of hard.  It was hard to think of everything that I've read or looked at to read.  It was really important for me to see that I do read a lot during the day, even if it is just a couple sentences.  I think I will implement something like this for my students to really open their eyes too, and see that reading is not optional.  I think back to my grandpa who quit school after the 8th grade, simply because he hated school and it was legal back then.  The effect this choice has had on his life has been huge.  He constantly told my dad that he had to finish school and that my dad had to go to college.  My grandfather didn't have a bad life, but he always says it would have been so much different if he had finished high school.  The biggest lesson I think he learned was that literacy is important.  My grandpa hated reading which made everything else so hard.  I think if classes were taught like they are now, with student interests in mind, I think the outcome may have been different.  It really gets to me when students say they don't like reading.  My response to them is "you're not reading the right stuff."  I have told so many parents that it doesn't matter what kids read at home, magazines, graphic novels, nonfiction books, articles online, etc, as long as they are actively engaging in reading content.  No matter what kind of job a kid wants to get, or what kind of goals they have in life, students will always need to read.  My biggest hope is that by the end of my class, they see that reading really is not optional, it is something that a person does a million times every day.  

Are we too old for YAL?

Young adult literature is meant for teenagers around 13-19 years old.  If someone my age (30) wants to read something like The Fault In Our Stars do we have to read it behind closed doors so our peers won't see us?  Did you know that according to The Slate Book Review, 28% of YAL sales were purchased by 30-44 year old's?  This tells me that YAL is more popular than ever.  There are even sites for folks in their late twenties to mid-forties who prefer young adult novels over the prestigious award winning novels.

I began to wonder after reading those statistics why YAL has gained so much popularity since the 1990's?  Is it because many of the books are now better written and considered to be great pieces of literature and not just for Young Adult Fiction?  Or do we as adults, still relate to the content that is written.  In my opinion, I enjoy YAL because the content is so real.  I enjoy it because it talks about the taboo subjects that many writings only tip-toe around.  I once read a poem that was three pages long by Earnest Hemingway that I had no idea what it was about.  When we came together as a class to discuss this poem it ended up being about a woman who's lover was trying to convince her to get an abortion.  In my mind I think, "My goodness why didn't you just say that!"  Many scholars feel it takes out the imagination invoking literature to spell it out so bluntly.  I feel this is the exact example of why YAL is so much more popular today.

So is it true, do you need to be a certain age to publicly read YAL or is it acceptable to read it at any age?  If  you feel it is acceptable to read at any age, do you think you might be judged by a group of your peers when asked to describe what you're currently reading?  Are those opinions enough to make us change our minds on what we chose to read for leisure?

Day of Tears by Julius Lester

I loved this book and it was my favorite one that I read throughout our Young Adult Literature course.  It is a true story about the biggest slave auction in history. The largest slave auction was in 1859, where 429 slaves were sold. This was known as the “weeping time.  It’s told from many of the character’s perspectives which makes this book even better. The book is written in dialogue. It’s mainly about Emma a slave girl belonging to Pierce Butler. His wife Fannie treated the slaves well, but divorced him because he didn’t tell her that he was a slave owner.  Emma is their nanny for their two children Sarah and Frances. The story starts out where Emma is told that half of the slaves are going to be sold due to a gambling debt owed by Pierce Butler. The slaves like being with Mr. Butler because he treats them fairly good, and they have worked for him for many years. They are devastated that he is selling them. The slaves are taken to an auction and put into horse stalls to be auctioned off. Pierce Butler is selling men, women, and families. Some of the families end up being torn apart and sold to different people. Emma has been told by her owner that she will not be sold, but he lies to her. Emma is told to come to the auction to watch the children. Emma is sold unexpectedly to Mrs. Penfield from Kentucky who wants her to be a nanny to her daughter. Emma is like Sarah’s Mom and so Sarah is heartbroken and angry at her father for selling her. Frances is quite the opposite of Sarah and is more like her Dad about her beliefs of the slaves. Luckily Joe is sold into the same family as Emma and gets to go with her. Emma and Joe find love and venture to freedom. The Day of Tears is such a good book and I couldn’t put it down once I started reading it. I would recommend it highly.

Discussion Questions

                 1.      What is the author referring to as The Day of Tears?

     2.   Why does Pierce Butler have to sell his slaves?

     3.   What role does Emma play in the story?

    4.     Is this a true story?

Social Media vs. Lit

I just read ch. 12 of Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom and the main topic of this chapter was TV and YA lit, how prominent TV is within everyday life, integrating it within the curriculum, and how to teach students how to be conscious TV viewers.

I loved this chapter, but my only flaw about it was the lack of mention of social media. This book was published in 2000 and TV was the biggest distraction to adolescents. This was before AIM, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram took over the world and because of that the conversation has completely changed.

Social media has quite genuinely changed the way our students learn and store information and this is a topic I would love to study more about. Due to the internet and the speed it delivers information to adolescents, students want information fast, quick, and in an organized and appealing manor.

Something I want to focus on as a teacher is 'internet literacy'. This idea is quite similar to ideas discussed in chapter 12 of Reading Their World in terms of how they discuss TV but relating to social media. Helping students become aware of their internet interactions, the amount of time they spend on the internet, and who they are on the internet is something that should be done when teaching 'internet literacy'.